How To Develop A Voice Assistant App Like Alexa: Benefits, Process, Cost, and Much More
Want to develop a voice assistant app like Alexa? This is all that you need to know
The prominence of intelligent assistants is only growing with time. For instance give a look at Siri, Cortana, Alexa, OK Google, etc — these are all the big players and have become an important part of people’s life. But you know what the best part is? You can build a voice assistant app too! By simply leveraging mobile app development services, you can develop your own app like Alexa and customize it as per your specific needs.
As these apps have become an important part of everyday life for many people and are rising in its popularity, developing an intelligent assistant is a lucrative deal. Now that voice search is taking over traditional internet research, developing an “intelligent assistant” provides a much faster & easier way to answer all your queries seamlessly to the end-users. In no time, users can shoot a voice command and get search results. And so, businesses are investing in voice assistant application development to improve customer experience.
What is a voice assistant app?
Commonly, a voice assistant app listens to and responds to voice commands given by the user and provides them accurate information about their queries. With the help of such apps, it becomes easy for users to give a voice command, process orders of products, perform actions like playing music, switch on/off the lights, send emails, make a to-do list, call a friend, etc.
Some of the most popular types of voice chat assistant app in the USA include:
Google Assistant
Cortana
Amazon Alexa
Siri
Bixby
DataBot, among others
Why are apps like Alexa so popular?
The primary reason for the popularity of apps like Alexa is the shift towards voice technology. As the user’s demands are constantly changing and evolving, they prefer using voice commands instead of typing their queries in search engines.
As per Statista, it is predicted that by 2024, the number of digital voice assistants will reach 8.4 billion units which are a number higher than the world’s population!
Source: Statista
Reasons, why these apps are so popular, are:
- Convenience- Apps like Alexa make things much more convenient. Whether it is making a call, searching a query on the internet, or any other task, with voice assistants, everything gets more convenient.
- Easy-to-use- These apps make things seamless & simple. Whether children, adults, or elderly, everyone using the app can simply start the conversation by just pressing the button and giving a command to the voice assistant.
- Instant results: Voice communications are much faster than touching or typing. All users need to do is simply ask Alexa & give commands to get the results instantly.
- Emotional connection: When communicating with a personal assistant, gives users a touch of emotional connection and inspires them to use it more
- Fascinating: No one had ever thought how fast technologies like AI will change the app development landscape. Using apps like Alexa is fascinating for children & also for the older generation.
Benefits of developing an app like Alexa
Alexa is among one of the users’ favorite voice assistants available for different platforms like Android, iOS, Windows, and Amazon devices. Using a virtual assistant app, users can listen to music, instantly get news updates, set reminders, set alarms, and do a lot more things. Further, with AI-based voice recognition tools users can also stay connected with smart home devices.
Benefits of voice chat assistant apps to the users:
Things to consider before developing an AI-powered voice assistant like Alexa
1. Choose the best technology
When you hire Indian software developers for your project, make sure that they go for the best technology to build your voice assistant app. And so before you start with the development process it is vital that you make a list of all the features that you would like to incorporate in your app and look for the advanced platform for your mobile application development.
2. Think from the end-users standpoint
Ever wondered why Alexa, Siri, etc are so popular? It is because they are able to solve users’ problems at once! To make a successful app, you must think like a mobile user.
Make sure that you ask these questions to yourself, find answers, and accordingly develop an app-
What kind of app would your users like?
How will your app be different from others?
Why will users use your app?
3. Choose the best app features
Since there are several voice-assistant apps already in the market, you must have something unique in your app to stay competitive. Therefore, it is important that you design your app in the best possible way & build the best features for your app. Having a rich-featured AI-powered mobile app is the one that will be most liked by the users.
4. Give a personalized app experience
Today, users are more likely to use an app if they offer personalization. And so, make sure that you build an app that improves personalization, improves users’ experience, and offers satisfaction.
How to make a voice-assistant app like Alexa?
Step 1: Plan your voice chat assistant app strategy
Before you hire android app developers or hire iOS app developers for your project, it is crucial that you should have a predefined goal and target audience. Also mentioned above, you should also consider that there are already some of the great AI-based voice chat assistants, so why would users like your app? And so, at this stage, you must define your unique features and offerings.
Thinking from the users’ perspective, you must develop an app in a way that automates the routine tasks of users, keeps their preferences at priority, and provide them a personalized experience. You must also consider other factors such as tone of voice used in the app, speaking pattern, duration of pauses, and more to make your voice assistant work efficiently.
Remember, that your app must provide something extra than that of your existing rivals, to give you an edge over your competitors. Your app should tempt users to return to the app again & again.
Step 2: Using custom APIs & AI tools integrate a voice assistant into your app
For building any voice assistant app like Alexa there are mainly three methods that can be deployed i.e. Junior method, which involves the integration of voice assistant technology to the app via APIs; middle method, in which you can build a voice assistant using open source services and APIs. And, a senior method, which involves building a voice assistant from scratch and then integrating it into the mobile app.
- Junior method: Th overall development process of an app like Alexa is complex and requires you to hire skilled and experienced mobile app developers. However, the Junior method makes the development process somewhat easy. This method involves the integration of trusted technology (like Google or Siri) within an existing app.
- Middle method: This method requires sound knowledge of machine learning technology and building a smart assistant using open-source services and APIs. Some of the most popular tools that can be used for developing an AI assistant app include Melissa, Jasper, Api.ai, Dialogflow, among others
- Senior method: If you are planning to build your own app from the scratch, using your own ideas and customization, this method is recommended. However, to develop the app from the scratch, you need to hire dedicated software developers who have prior experience in developing machine learning apps.
Step 3: Add all the features & technology required to build an app like Alexa
The development of voice assistants using Artificial Intelligence (AI) needs cloud support along with other coding languages. Certain apps like Siri or Google assistant use speech recognition and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies for interpreting and processing languages. Furthermore, the AI apps include machine learning capabilities in order to make faster decisions upon receiving user commands.
Voice assistant apps like Amazon Alexa use IoT technology that facilitates interaction with smart home devices such as smart lights, smart door locks, television, etc. Additionally, noise control and text-to-speech are other important technologies used for voice assistant app development.
Voice/speech to text (STT)
This process converts speech signals into digital data. The user’s voice is in the form of a file or a stream. For processing, you can use CMU Sphinx.
Text to speech (TTS)
This is the opposite process where the text or images are translated into human speech. It is used when, for example, a user wants to know the correct pronunciation of a word. This can also be used when the user wants the assistant to read out something when he/she is busy with another activity. This plays an important role in humanizing the assistant.
Intelligent tagging & decision making
This process is crucial for interpreting the user’s command. For instance, if the user asks: ‘What do I eat tonight?’. The technology will automatically tag the top-rated restaurants and dishes and suggest you a few as per your order history or your likings. Any Android or iOS app development company may help you build an AI assistant with intelligent tagging & decision making.
Image recognition
Though Image recognition is an optional feature, at the same time it can be highly useful. For instance, if the user clicks a picture of a product, image recognition may help the user in identifying the product & show him/her similar products available on any website.
Noise control
While using the app, the noises coming from cars, surrounding people, electrical appliances, etc may make the user’s voice unclear and difficult for an assistant to understand. And so, to ensure that the user’s voice is clear, this technology reduces or eliminates the background noise that prevents correct voice recognition. Adding this feature to your app will enhance the overall user experience.
Voice Biometrics
This is a very important option security feature of authentication which allows your app to specifically understand your voice. You must take this feature into account while you create your own AI assistant app. This feature allows the voice assistant to identify who is talking and make a decision whether to respond or not. For eg, your assistant may follow your command but will not respond to commands or requests coming from a television.
Speech compression
With this technology, the voice data can be compressed and sent to the server in a succinct format. It will ensure that the user’s voice reaches the server quickly and deliver seamless application performance without annoying delays.
User interface
The user interface usually has two parts i.e. the voice and the call out. The voice interface is where the user hears the result for his or her request/query. On the other hand, call-outs are where the user sees visual representation/results on the screen.
Cost to develop voice chat assistant app like Alexa
If you are thinking of developing an app like Alexa, you must be wondering how much would it cost you. Well, the development cost of any AI-based assistant application depends on various factors. This may include:
- Technologies used to develop the app
- The platform on which the app is built
- Designing tools
- The complexity of artificial intelligence, ML & other technologies used
- Experience of the developer
- Location of mobile app developers, etc.
The estimated development cost of developing an AI-powered assistant app can be nearly $40,000 to $55,000. If you are outsourcing mobile app development services to countries like India, this cost can be further reduced. However, the integration of advanced Artificial Intelligence technologies or other features may also increase the estimated cost of mobile apps.
Why should you outsource mobile app development services?
Building a high-performing and intelligent app like Alexa is not an easy job. Hence, it is necessary that you seek help from skilled and experienced mobile app developers. Outsourcing mobile app development services to a renowned company will help you in the following ways:
- Developers have hands-on experience in building even the most complex apps
- Cost-effective solutions
- Shorten the time-to-market
- Expert insight into modern technology
- Wide talent pool & better scalability
- Niche expertise
A great mobile app development company can bring years of experience in business and expertise in delivering a robust AI-based voice chat assistant app like Alexa. Moreover, outsourcing companies have custom libraries, access to modern technology, experienced developers, ready solutions, and reliable IT infrastructures to help you save time and money.
Top Questions Answered
1. What is a voice assistant app?
A voice assistant app listens to and responds to voice commands given by the user and provides them accurate information about their queries. With the help of such apps, users can give a voice command, perform actions like playing music, switching on/off the lights, sending emails, making a to-do list, calling a friend, and doing a lot more!
2. How to make a voice chat assistant app?
Ideally, there are three ways:
- Junior method- Integrating existing voice technologies like Siri, Google, etc. into your app using specific APIs and other development tools.
- Middle method- Building an app using open-source services and APIs like Wit.ai, Jasper, etc.
- Senior method- Creating your own voice assistant from scratch using STT, Text-to-speech, intelligent tagging, etc., and integrating it into your app.
3. What can voice assistant apps do?
These apps can do plenty of things. With the help of voice chat assistant apps, users can give voice commands to solve their queries, play music, set reminders, control smart home or office, send emails, make to-do lists, etc.
4. How much does it cost to develop a voice chat assistant app like Alexa?
The development cost of any AI-based assistant application depends on various factors including technologies used to develop the app, platform, designing tools, complexity, location of mobile app developers, etc. However, the estimated development cost of developing an AI-powered assistant app is around $40,000 to $55,000.
5. Why should you outsource mobile app development services?
- Developers have hands-on experience in building even the most complex apps
- Cost-effective solutions
- Shorten the time-to-market
- Expert insight into modern technology
- Wide talent pool & better scalability
- Niche expertise
So if you have any idea that you want to implement with the right blend of technologies and features and functionalities, then you can contact us or drop a query.
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